Hi, good morning, good afternoon and good night, wherever you're reading. I hope you guys are having a wonderful day. I wanted to talk about a comment I received that kinda make me feel bad, you know? Although I use STAGE 32 to talk about my script and to talk about what I'm working on, I also use another website called StoryPeer. StoryPeer is a website where you can share your logline and the script you wrote. You can receive feedback from a reader who claims your script, reads it and then he givesyou feedback. I've been working on my very first original script called "Project Extermination", I posted the logline and the script on StoryPeer and someone claimed my script. But the feedback he gave me wasn't and didn't feel professional. Here is the feedback he gave me:
"I'm sorry. I got to about page 51 before I was compelled to stop.
Script is not good. Endless formatting errors. A plot that just got more and more nonsensical the further along it got. Endless redundant, repetitive sentence phrasing that suggests AI was at least partially used in writing this.
Do yourself a favor. READ produced scripts. READ books on storytelling. Drop the AI, if you did use any. Create an outline.
Because this was abysmal. Probably the worst script I've read on this site, and that's saying a lot.
Good luck on your future endeavors, but until you start grasping fundamentals, I don't think screenwriting is for you."
I felt bad, cause I've been working and re-written this script since January you know? Because I think that there are better and professional ways to give feedback to a rookie who's learning to make good movies for industries and all that stuff. Let me know what do you guys think about this comment. And comment if you guys have received comments like this one. Take care, God bless you and have a great day.
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Joskar Hernandez Birriel Hey, Joskar. Agreed.
This feedback was a bit harsh for a freshman screenwriter. Don’t take it personally and don’t let it get you down. I was a former professional actor and now a seasoned writer with 8 features behind me. One thing I learned in acting, which also toughened me up for screenwriting— “If you’re going to accept the good reviews, then you have to accept the bad ones as well.” Trust me. I, too, have been on both sides of the fence. Just continue to keep your chin up, and learn from the criticism. Hope this helps you find your way. Now get up, dust yourself off and move forward. Best of Luck to you!!
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The advice you got is terribly written and has an unwarranted slam out of nowhere. However, there's one kernel of truth I would take away from it. Reading is essential, especially reading the scripts for films you think are brilliant. Spend enough time with great screenplays and things like formatting and pacing become second nature.
You're going to get bad coverage, because people are people and you might just catch them on a bad day or a bad entire life. An old friend of mine who's been a working screenwriter for decades once told me: "say thank you and take the note. It's up to you whether you use it or not." I will say that it doesn't matter how long you've been rewriting a script if you've only seen it yourself, because--like Sun Tzu said--no plan survives the first meeting with the battlefield. The feedback you're going to get from other people actually reading what you're writing is going to be invaluable, and that's for good and for ill.
You got some ill-tempered feedback, but there's still a lot to learn from it. All I know is that the first five features I wrote can get in the bin, and that twenty-five years after writing my first I'm still learning how to make something better than I have before. You're going to be building up to something worthwhile for a long while, and this is one bump in the road. (Trust me! When I was twenty-two I got the following coverage on a script: "Inherently unfilmable". That was the whole thing. I let the idea lay fallow for a while and now I'm taking meetings on a radically different version of that same script. Sometimes it takes a long time for things to hit.)
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Hi Joskar Hernandez Birriel We are glad you are here at Stage 32! That comment is not nice or helpful. We encourage constructive criticism here and we regularly encourage our members to be kind and thoughtful. Everyone is in a different place in their journey and career. To reach your goals, you need positive reinforcement and notes that are actionable to improve your writing. I hope you will keep sharing here on Stage 32 and get to know our community.
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Wildly unprofessional feedback, Joskar Hernandez Birriel, and I'm sorry you got it. I'm also pretty new and got similar feedback that was more rant than actual critique, but take heart knowing that you took a big step forward and invested in yourself. Like Bill Brock and Michael Elder said, you're gonna get bad coverage and catch people on bad days so you can't let it get to you. Especially since you're starting out, not everything will come easy so reading other screenplays does help in addition to good-old-fashioned trial and error. Keep it up :)
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yeah i feel for you man. that was a rough way to get critiqued. at the same time, he’s kinda lucky someone even read his script all the way to page 51. most of us are out here tossing work into the void and praying for a single pair of eyes.
that said, feedback like that doesn’t actually help anyone get better. it’s just someone venting their frustration instead of offering anything useful. you can tell the difference between “here’s what isn’t working and why” and “i’m gonna unload on you because i’m annoyed.”
water off a duck’s back though. if you’re serious about writing, you take what’s helpful, ignore the rest, and keep moving. every writer gets hit with something like this eventually. it doesn’t define u
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Ouch. They definitely didn’t pull any punches. Ask them to send you a copy of one of their scripts for you to “learn from” since they seem to be where quality screenwriting begins & ends. I’d refrain from using that site in the future. Might forward their review to the owners of the site as well.
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This comment may not win me friends here. But - are you objecting to the critique's tone or its content? Perhaps the "worst script" comment was uncalled for but... (every writer should ask themselves) Have you studied formatting? REALLLLY studied MODERN formatting? Bad formatting alone will get you rejected. And really pull on your plot threads. Is it a series of random events that could happen in any order? Or is it: Inciting event 1 > event 2 happens BECAUSE OF OR IN SPITE OF event 1 > event 3 happens because of or in spite of 1 or 2, etc.? Do you say something over and over? Or - as some readers like - is there either plot or character on EVERY PAGE (preferably both)? I haven't read your script - I can't say if any if these are problems. Only you can. But they are issues EVERY writer imho should ask themselves EVERY TIME they write - at the end of the day writing is hard and sometimes hearing critiques are hard on your ego. I've had good reviews and bad of published works - even stuff that won awards - the bad ones hurt. A lot. But they taught me how to be a better writer. I reached some readers but not others. Why? WHYYYYY???? What can I improve next time to reach 10% more of the people who didn't like my last story? Be thankful the critiquer read 51 pages - that's 51 pages more than most people on this planet. Now ask yourself if you need to work on the text (maybe you don't - maybe it's perfect) to convince someone to read to page 52. And then all the way to your glorious ending! Good luck (I mean that!)!!!
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I am one of the more experienced members here. Because I have done a lot of no-budget filming, including 3 TV movies. I have read scrips by others (both professionals and unproduced by inexperienced writers). And I have received comments from others.
Many scripts written by inexperienced persons like yourself are horribly poorly written. There has been cases when I realized that the situation was hopeless.
When it comes to the comments I have received, many have been extremely short, hardly more than "I (don't) like it", which has not been helpful. There has also been cases when it appeared that the person tried to be unfriendly. For example, by sending me comments from AI but pretending it came from a human. So there are people who like to behaving bad.
So I am not surprised that someone expresses themselves in the way you mention. And the solution is that you ask someone else to read your script. Just remember, the professional attitude is to point out what is wrong in a script. Because comments are given in order to help the writer improve upon what is not good enough.
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I think giving blunt feedback is important but being rude, like this person was, is uncalled for. I do recommend studying screenwriting and one resource I have found helpful is Jacob Michael (but be sure to look at other resources): https://www.youtube.com/@BigRedStripe
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I learned to always offer solutions to the problem and not just present the problem itself. I think he needed to give you resources and tools to improve your skills, rather than just blankly criticizing them. I think that’s where the unprofessionalism comes into play..
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Professional script readers should never make personal comments or give their own likes or dislikes. Notes on concept, character and structure are normal, together with what works, and what does not work with the script. Constructive criticism is key. As a new writer you most likely need advice on how to get to the next level, and not a barrage of insults. Don't take the "knockback" feedback to heart, and continue on the road of writing. Even paid writers, find that not everyone likes their work. Find your own voice, style and genre whilst building your knowledge of the foundations of the craft.